Natural radionuclide concentrations in soils around Baoji coal-fired power plant,China

Radionuclides are released together with fly ash from the coal-fired power plant and thus add to the natural radiation. Fifty soil samples were collected around the Baoji coal-fired power plant from 25 locations and the natural radionuclide concentrations were determined by a gamma ray spectrometric system. The results show that the activity concentrations in soil samples range from 12.54 to 40.18 Bq kg^?1, 38.02 to 72.55 Bq kg^?1 and 498.02 to 1126.98 Bq kg^?1 for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K with the mean values of 27.35, 52.66 and 764.72 Bq kg^?1, respectively. In order to evaluate the radiological hazard of the natural radioactivity, the radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), the absorbed dose rate (D) and the annual effective dose rate have been calculated and compared with the internationally approved values. The radium equivalent activity in all the soil samples is lower than the safe limit set in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report (370 Bq kg^?1). The average value of the calculated dose rates is higher than the global average value 55 nGy h^?1, and the calculated annual effective dose rate is significantly lower than the average annual external effective dose rate (460 μSv y^?1) of the normal background radiation.     

Cocoa Shell as a Step Forward to Functional Chocolates—Bioactive Components in Chocolates with Different Composition

Chocolate is considered as both caloric and functional food. Its nutritional properties may be improved by addition of fiber; however, this may reduce polyphenols content. The aim of this research was to determine the influence of cocoa shell addition (as a source of fiber) and its combination with different ingredients (cocoa butter equivalents (CBE), emulsifiers, dairy ingredients) on polyphenols of dark and milk chocolates. Total polyphenol (TPC) and total flavonoid (TFC) contents were determined spectrophotometrically, identification and quantification of individual compounds by high pressure liquid chromatography and antioxidant capacity by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Results showed that even though addition of cocoa shell to chocolate results in reduced contents of TPC, TFC, and individual compounds, it is not significant compared to ones reported by other authors for commercial chocolates. Other ingredients influence determined values for all investigated parameters; however, additional research is needed to reveal exact mechanisms and implications.     

Cocrystals of the antibiotic trimethoprim with glutarimide and 3,3‐dimethylglutarimide held together by three hydrogen bonds

The antibiotic trimethoprim [5‐(3,4,5‐trimethoxybenzyl)pyrimidine‐2,4‐diamine] was cocrystallized with glutarimide (piperidine‐2,6‐dione) and its 3,3‐dimethyl derivative (4,4‐dimethylpiperidine‐2,6‐dione). The cocrystals, viz. trimethoprim–glutarimide (1/1), C₁₄H₁₈N₄O₃·C₅H₇NO₂, (I), and trimethoprim–3,3‐dimethylglutarimide (1/1), C₁₄H₁₈N₄O₃·C₇H₁₁NO₂, (II), are held together by three neighbouring hydrogen bonds (one central N—H...N and two N—H...O) between the pyrimidine ring of trimethoprim and the imide group of glutarimide, with an ADA/DAD pattern (A = acceptor and D = donor). These heterodimers resemble two known cocrystals of trimethoprim with barbituric acid and its 5,5‐diethyl derivative. Trimethoprim shows a conformation in which the planes of the pyrimidine and benzene rings are approximately perpendicular to one another. In its glutarimide coformer, five of the six ring atoms lie in a common plane; the C atom opposite the N atom deviates by about 0.6 Å. The crystal packing of each of the two cocrystals is characterized by an extended network of hydrogen bonds and contains centrosymmetrically related trimethoprim homodimers formed by a pair of N—H...N hydrogen bonds. This structural motif occurs in five of the nine published crystal structures in which neutral trimethoprim is present.     

Phase transition for absorbed Brownian motion with drift

We study one-dimensional Brownian motion with constant drift toward the origin and initial distribution concentrated in the strictly positive real line. We say that at the first time the process hits the origin, it is absorbed. We study the asymptotic behavior, ast, ofm _t , the conditional distribution at time zero of the process conditioned on survival up to timet and on the process having a fixed value at timet. We find that there is a phase transition in the decay rate of the initial condition. For fast decay rate (subcritical case)m _t is localized, in the critical casem _t is located around , and for slow rates (supercritical case)m _t is located aroundt. The critical rate is given by the decay of the minimal quasistationary distribution of this process. We also study in each case the asymptotic distribution of the process, scaled by , conditioned as before. We prove that in the subcritical case this distribution is a Brownian excursion. In the critical case it is a Brownian bridge attaining 0 for the first time at time 1, with some initial distribution. In the supercritical case, after centering around the expected value—which is of the order oft—we show that this process converges to a Brownian bridge arriving at 0 at time 1 and with a Gaussian initial distribution.     

Polysaccharide Structures and Their Hypocholesterolemic Potential

Several classes of polysaccharides have been described to have hypocholesterolemic potential, namely cholesterol bioaccessibility and bioavailability. This review will highlight the main mechanisms by which polysaccharides are known to affect cholesterol homeostasis at the intestine, namely the effect (i) of polysaccharide viscosity and its influence on cholesterol bioaccessibility; (ii) on bile salt sequestration and its dependence on the structural diversity of polysaccharides; (iii) of bio-transformations of polysaccharides and bile salts by the gut microbiota. Different quantitative structure–hypocholesterolemic activity relationships have been explored depending on the mechanism involved, and these were based on polysaccharide physicochemical properties, such as sugar composition and ramification degree, linkage type, size/molecular weight, and charge. The information gathered will support the rationalization of polysaccharides’ effect on cholesterol homeostasis and highlight predictive rules towards the development of customized hypocholesterolemic functional food.     

毛细管电泳结合高效液相色谱-质谱用于天然产物活性成分的筛选

发展了毛细管电泳(CE)和高效液相色谱-质谱(HPLC-MS)相结合的用于天然产物中活性成分筛选和鉴定的方法。该方法中,用HPLC半制备柱对天然产物粗提物进行分离纯化,再用CE对HPLC纯化后的组分进行活性测试。根据HPLC-MS/MS提供的二级质谱数据,即可确定活性成分的化学结构。以乙酰胆碱酯酶为实验模型,对我们发展的筛选方法进行了验证。从黄连粗提物中确定了药根碱、巴马汀等7种活性成分,并通过CE测定了它们的半抑制率(IC₅₀)值。与传统的天然产物分离纯化和活性筛选方法相比,该方法具有简单、微量、快速、准确的优点。本文建立的方法为天然产物粗提物中活性成分的筛选提供了新技术。     

光泵THz激光器输出频率稳定特性研究

在太赫兹(THz)成像、雷达探测、相干通信等许多应用领域中,THz辐射源的频率稳定性是直接影响其应用效果的核心问题之一。基于双光子迁移效应建立了光泵THz激光器输出激光频率漂移的物理模型,推导出THz激光频率漂移的解析计算公式。以光泵甲醇(CH₃OH)为例, 给出了不同压强下的甲醇吸收谱线,定量分析了泵浦光频率漂移和泵浦功率对THz激光频率稳定性的影响,并讨论了THz激光腔内工作气体压强对THz激光频率漂移的影响。研究结果表明：随着泵浦光功率的增加,THz激光频率的漂移量逐渐增加;随着THz腔内工作气体压强升高,THz激光的频率漂移逐渐下降;当泵浦光频率漂移量在一定范围时,将出现THz激光的频率漂移量极值,且泵浦光的频率漂移量等于工作气体吸收谱线宽度的1/4时,THz激光输出的频率漂移达到极值。由此可见,在实际工作中,不仅需要合理选择腔内的工作条件(压强、温度),而且还需要采取措施将泵浦光的频率漂移控制在一定范围以内,以提高THz激光的输出频率稳定性。     

纳米雄黄研究进展

矿物中药雄黄临床应用历史悠久,近些年来更是引起广泛关注。然而也存在雄黄的潜在毒性较大, 雄黄的难溶性使其生物利用度低等问题。采用纳米技术制成纳米雄黄,可以提高难溶性雄黄的生物利用度和降低毒副作用;与普通雄黄比较,纳米雄黄的药代动力学也发生显著变化。本文在文献总结基础上结合我们的研究工作,对纳米雄黄的制备方法及表征、纳米雄黄药代动力学、纳米雄黄抗肿瘤作用、纳米雄黄的活性物种及纳米雄黄中药复方制剂等方面作了综述,并对纳米雄黄的进一步研究做了展望。     

分子印迹技术在天然产物有效成分分离纯化中的应用

天然产物体系复杂,大分子和小分子、生命和非生命物质共存,多存在结构相近的异构体,且有效成分含量低,采用一般的分离方法富集难度较大。分子印迹技术是制备高选择性分离介质的有效技术手段,分子印迹聚合物(MIP)的选择性强,分离操作简单,在各种分离纯化中展现了良好的应用前景。本文对近年来分子印迹技术在天然产物活性组分(如生物碱、甾体、多元酚、黄酮等)的分离纯化中的应用进行了综述,并介绍了本课题组利用MIP从天然产物中分离纯化莽草酸等活性成分的研究进展。     

Factors Affecting Polymer Translocation Through a Nanopore in a Membrane

The variation of the translocation time with respect to the solvent quality was also studied. It showed that there is a transition, as the solvent quality improves from \poor to \good: when ABc, τ increases with increasing AB. When the chain length was changed, it was found that when the absorbed energy u0 was greater than uc, τ was proportional to N1:602; for u0相似文献